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World?s Leading People Search Engine 123people Supports Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions in the Reunification

123people (Businesswire) - 23 December 2010

World?s Leading People Search Engine 123people Supports Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions in the Reunification of Families

VIENNA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--123people now supports ?Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions e.V.?, an association dedicated to helping displaced children and families reunite. Their numbers are estimated in the tens of thousands and little is known about the fate of children forcibly separated from parents during the Communist rule of East Germany. Politically motivated child abductions were carried out as a popular way to silence regime opponents. Often children were released without parental consent for adoption into new, system-compliant families. To this day many children and parents have no trace of their past or where they came from. With the help of 123people, the world?s leading people search engine with over 40 million unique visitors per month, some families are being reunited from the past of forced adoptions.

?Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions e.V.?

Founded in 2007 the self-help organization, Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions e.V. (OVZ DDR e.V.), was created to locate and reconnect children and parents torn apart by forced adoptions during the communist era. Karen Behr, Managing Director of OVZ DDR e.V., is dedicated to reuniting families as she herself was a victim of forced adoptions, finally reunited with her mother after 19 years of separation. "In our effort to reunite families separated by forced adoptions, we work toward forming a complete history of separated parents and children. We often have little or no data to work with, sometimes having only one name or a birth date to track people. In addition, we never know if a child now bears a different name," says Karen Behr.

The organization receives over 400 requests each year from people searching for children or parents. To help make missing persons aware they are being searched for and to support the organization?s work in attempting to locate children and parents, 123people launched a campaign in association with the OVZ DDR e.V., to assist in its efforts to reunite families. Every time a user name associated with OVZ DDR e.V. is used in searches on 123people, in any of the thirteen countries 123people offers its service, a banner-link appears that refers to this person as possibly being searched for by families and the OVZ DDR e.V.

"The story of Mrs. Behr really touched us. With thirty percent of Internet searches being people searches, and with our global presence and number of users, it is likely we can assist the OVZ DDR e.V. in finding and reconnecting children and families torn apart by forced adoptions,? said Bernhard Hoetzl, Chief Marketing Officer of 123people.

For more information on Aid for Victims of East Germany - Forced Adoptions (OVZ DDR e.V.) visit http://www.personen-suche-ddr.de (German only)

About 123people

123people (www.123people.com) is the premier online person related search service. The service intelligently aggregates and organizes social networking, media, search engine and strategic partner content with regionally relevant information. For private users, 123people enables users to check their digital footprint 24/7. For business users the service provides a competitive tool in contextual human search unavailable through general search engines. For the enterprise user, the service organizes comprehensive name related search data in real time. Currently 123people is available in thirteen countries: USA (www.123people.com), Canada (www.123people.ca), Brazil (www.123people.com.br), UK (www.123people.co.uk), Austria (www.123people.at), Germany (www.123people.de), Switzerland (www.123people.ch), Italy (www.123people.it), Spain (www.123people.es), The Netherlands (www.123people.nl), France (www.123people.fr), Sweden (www.123people.se) and Poland (www.123people.pl).

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Contacts

InTheNewsPR on behalf of 123people

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James Malone
Telephone: 760-367-3121
Email: james@inthenewspr.com

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